


Heartbeats

by elizabethprice



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Bending, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Canon Bisexual Character, Canon Bisexual Relationship, Canon Character of Color, Deaf Character, F/F, Korrasami Week 2016, Service Dogs, shared emotions, shared pain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 03:52:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8129416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elizabethprice/pseuds/elizabethprice
Summary: The only way to know your soulmate is to hear them speak your name. Unfortunately for Asami, the one she loves can't hear anything.For Korrasami Week, Soulmate AU.





	

Asami has always enjoyed the ebb and flow of the city. There was just something almost rhythmic in the synchronized movements of the people and vehicles. It was a type of lifeblood all on its own, and it was all Asami had known.

She moved with the crowd, crossing the street all at once as the lights indicated to. Asami always wondered at the stories of the people she was passing by. Where were they going? What was happening in their lives? What ways could she help the community and in turn help them? It was these kinds of questions that fueled her ideas for helping restructure the city.

To her right, a blonde was laughing on their cell. To her front left, a couple were holding hands and smiling. She wondered briefly if they were meant to be together forever. Behind her she heard a conversation between an adult and a child about what to do for the rest of the day.

The city was so alive, even in its own way. Asami loved the city and had never considered living somewhere else. The sounds it made at all times of the day soothed her soul, reminded her she was not as alone as she felt.

It had always been her favourite thing, Republic City. She had never wanted anything else than to serve it. That is, until she met Korra.

x

It was on a day much like this one, sun shining, people moving in the bustle only a city could provide. She had been making her way to a little shop just down the street from the apartment she rented (to be closer to Future Industries' headquarters, and not at all because she couldn't stand the empty mansion in which she grew up, of course). Asami liked listening to the life around her, which was probably why she heard the yelling.

"Why can't I pet your dog? What's the matter with you? Do you ever let it just live and have fun?" The voice was raised shrilly, almost hysterically. Asami pushed through the few people between her and the voice, curiosity getting to her. What was going on?

When she finally cleared the crowd, she was standing on the inside of the sidewalk, near the businesses lined up. There was a tall, older woman standing with her hands on the hips of her cheap suit. Her hair was done up in a ridiculous bun, glasses hanging on the tip of her nose, cheeks red. She looked like an awful caricature.

Across from her was a younger woman, her hair stylized as a cute bob, dark skin covering the most amazing arms Asami had ever seen on a woman. Her hands were gripping the handle of a dog's working vest while the dog stood across the front of her. It looked like the dog was blocking space between the two.

Asami frowned. Couldn't the older woman see the dog was wearing a vest? Clearly it was a service animal. What was the problem? She approached the two, the older woman still ranting about animal abuse while the other stood there silently, not even defending herself.

"What's going on here?" Asami asked, looking between the two.

"This _woman_ ," the one hissed, "is _abusing_ her dog!"

Asami frowned, her eyes lingering on the dog's handler. She had her head bowed, hair covering her face, remaining silent. Dragging her gaze away, Asami addressed the woman beside her. "Can't you see the dog is a service dog? Clearly it's just doing its job. I see no signs of abuse here."

"That's exactly my point!" Spittle shot out of her mouth as she shook her arms in the air. "The dog works all day and she won't even let it be socialized with or let me give it treats!"

"But... it's working right now. Can't you read the patches? It asks that you do not distract the dog while it's working."

"I was just going to give it a treat and say hi!"

Asami withheld a sigh, lifting her chin. Using a calm voice, she said, "You're absolutely right ma'am. I'll make sure to have words with the dog's handler, and report this to the proper authorities. Why don't you leave the rest to me and head on?" She flashed her best professional smile and tapped the angry woman's elbow.

"Thank you," the woman calmed, straightening her suit jacket. "This kind of behaviour is abhorrent."

"Of course, you're absolutely right." Asami nodded, waving as the woman walked off. Turning, Asami looked at the handler, finally letting out her sigh. "I'm sorry about that, some people can be so rude."

The dog's handler remained silent, but finally looked up. She had stunning blue eyes. Asami felt her heart stutter. The stranger released her grip on the dog's vest, rubbing at the arm band covering one of her biceps. Asami licked her lips. "Um, was there anything else you needed?"

The young woman looked back at her, giving a small smile. She leaned down and pointed to another patch on her dog's vest, this one off to side where Asami hadn't noticed. _Hearing Dog_. Right, duh. Asami ran her right hand through her hair, smiling as well, before lowering the hand to her heart in a fist, rubbing circles. _Sorry_.

The stranger's eyes widened, as did her smile. She lifted her hands and started Signing rapidly. Asami couldn't comprehend any of it, except the sign for _thank you_. She frowned, and the hands stopped moving. "I'm sorry," she said. "I only know a little bit of Sign."

The woman stared at her lips, nodding. She took out a phone from the back pocket of her jeans, tapping a couple of times. "I was just thanking you for getting rid of that awful person," the phone droned out in a robotic voice. The blue eyes caught hers, and Asami smiled in understanding. A few more taps on the phone and it spoke again: "Let me thank you properly sometime. Do you have a pen and paper?"

Admittedly Asami had been confused, but she dug through her purse and presented the items. The very attractive stranger took them, writing something down and handing them back. She waved, took her dog's handle again, and walked away.

Asami looked down. Written was a phone number and a single name: Korra.

x

Korra and her had become fast friends, despite the language barrier. Asami had tried learning some Sign and still was, but she was much better at reading it than making the words with her fingers herself. Still, they always had fun, and Korra always made her heart do funny things.

Growing up, Asami had of course heard of soulmates. Everyone had, and her school friends loved to play games guessing who theirs would be. Asami had enjoyed it once, until her mother died. Seeing what that had done to her father made the prospect of finding her soulmate almost sickening. So she instead spent her time focusing on her schoolwork, and learning to build things with her dad. Then she grew up, her dad went to jail, and she had to instead focus all her energy on saving Future Industries. She didn't have time for silly things like soulmates.

Of course, there was always the possibility she would find them. It couldn't be avoided. All they had to do was say her name and that would be it, she'd be bound to them forever. They'd be connected, sharing feelings and hurts, and there'd be no feeling in the world like brushing their skin or hearing their laugh. She always figured she could keep herself shut away, and hopefully nothing would come of it.

But then there was Korra. Bright, beautiful, strong Korra, whose smile made Asami's heart soar, and whose touch made Asami's stomach drown in a flight of butterflies. Asami had given up on soulmates, because she couldn't stand the idea of one day feeling the pain her father had felt, but with Korra, it felt like it would be worth it. That anything was worth it, if only they would be together.

It was ridiculous. She shouldn't be having these thoughts, putting the burden on her friend even if her friend didn't know it. Sure, there was something simply _magical_ about Korra, but she didn't even speak with her voice, not really. Asami had heard her laugh loudly before, and sometimes she mumbled little sounds, but Korra had never really spoken anything vocally, especially not her name. Asami would probably never know if Korra was her soulmate, and she couldn't certainly find out if she was Korra's. Korra would never hear her speak, and it would be terrible of her to abandon Korra out of that.

So Asami decided once again she didn't care about soulmates. She loved Korra, and that's all she needed. There were some people who still dated and lived happily together even though they weren't fated, and sometimes people just didn't have a soulmate. Or perhaps they just never found them, or any number of things. And that was a good enough life for Asami. As long as she had Korra, she'd be happy.

Asami shook herself out of her thoughts, stopping in front of the usual café she met up with Korra at. Tonight, she had decided, she was going to confess her feelings to Korra. If all went well, her friend would reciprocate, and Asami could finally hold Korra the way she had been dying to for months.

She opened the door and stepped inside, the bell above the door going off. She made her way to the corner booth, grinning as she saw Korra and Naga, Korra's service dog, were already there. She sat down across from her friend, shrugging out of her spring jacket.

Asami lifted her hands to her temples, keeping them flat as she showed Korra her palms. She moved them in and out against her temples quick, greeting Korra as her friend smiled at her and brought out her phone.

"How are you today?" the phone spoke. Asami picked it up and typed, handing it back to Korra so she could read her reply: "I'm good! How are you and Naga?"

Korra looked down at her Great Pyrenees, who wagged her tail at the attention but stayed in her down next to the table. Korra typed, the phone spoke. "We are better now that you are here."

Asami blushed at that, quickly picking up the menu to hide her face as Korra giggled at her. It was easy to take it as flirting, but with Korra you could never really tell if she was just being playful. Or at least Asami was pretty sure.

They both ordered their drinks, Korra and the waiter having a brief conversation in Sign. It was one of the things Asami had grown to love about the place, that her friend could come here and speak for herself in her native language. And they never bothered Naga when she was working.

They spent the time conversing via phone, sometimes Sign, sharing smiles even though they were mostly just talking about Future Industries or the latest antics Korra's roommate, Bolin, had gotten up to over the weekend. Still, the afternoon was peaceful, and Asami loved every second of it.

She told Korra she had the day off and wanted to spend the evening with her. Korra had lit up at that, asking what they were going to do, but Asami wanted to keep it as a surprise. Once they were finished their drinks and the pastries they ordered after, Asami led Korra and Naga outside and hailed a taxi.

x

When they arrived at their destination, Korra got out first with Naga right behind, and she bolted around the car to open the door for Asami. Asami laughed at this, but accepted Korra's hand as she stepped out. She didn't let it go as she led her friend to the doors of the local aquarium. Korra beamed when she saw the sign, and profusely signed her _thank you_ s to Asami.

Just as Asami hoped, it was going to make the perfect place for their first date. Except for the fact Korra didn't know it was sort of date-like. Hopefully by the end of the day she would.

The three of them stepped inside, and the lone worker waved them on through. Korra looked at Asami curiously, but Asami just squeezed her hand. They made their way to the main area. When Korra saw that it was empty, she looked at Asami again, and Asami took the phone to explain she rented the aquarium for the night as an "event". They were going to have the whole place to themselves.

Korra smiled again, and Asami had to swallow. Slowly, she lifted her hand to Korra's face, brushing a strand of hair to the side that had gotten in the way. Korra bit her lip and looked down, but might have been smiling. Asami hoped so.

Korra indicated that she wanted to make it to the South Pole section first, so they went left. They didn't let go of each other's hands. Naga walked beside them the whole way, even when Korra let go of her handle to point out the various creatures, like the baby otter penguins, or to type out a story of her childhood for Asami.

Korra looked beautiful in the blue glow of the tanks. Her eyes shined in the light, wide as she took in all the aquatic animals. Her hand was warm in Asami's, and her biceps flexed under their ever-present armbands. Naga was sweet and quiet as always, patiently standing or sitting next to her handler, content to be in a place where she was not wholly needed.

Asami watched her friend's expressions, more enraptured with Korra's excitement than with the animals all around them. Still, the place was beautiful, music gently streaming through speakers, the sounds of water echoing over the walls. It was dark and quiet, like a magical world where only they existed. She didn't have to worry about her company's future or the letters her father wrote her, unopened in a drawer in her desk. There was only Korra.

They ate dinner in the Earth Kingdom Waters section, shoulder to shoulder, Naga curled up into Korra's other side. Their arms were linked, and Korra shook with laughter as Asami typed out a story about the time she met Varrick. The man was _convinced_ he knew how to levitate. Korra leaned her head on Asami's shoulder, and Asami knew she would want to live in this moment forever.

They watched as catgators swam overhead, Naga's eyes following the movement of the animal. Korra buried her face in Asami's neck, inhaling deeply. Asami closed her eyes, feeling her friend's breath against her neck, and wondering if she should tell Korra about her feelings.

Something soft pressed against the junction between her throat and her jaw, and Asami inhaled sharply. Korra sat up and looked at her, her eyelids lowered, her head tilted. Asami slowly lifted her free hand to Korra's cheek, and the other smiled, pressing her face against it as she kissed Asami's palm. Asami swallowed deeply, eyes dropping to Korra's lips.

She leaned in closer, meeting Korra's eyes and then pointedly looking down to her friend's lips, asking permission. Korra nodded, her smile growing even bigger. Asami scooted closer, sitting on her knees, her legs straddling one of Korra's.

Korra closed her eyes, leaning her face up. Asami finally closed the distance, her lips gently pressing against Korra's upper one. It was so soft, barely even a whisper of a kiss, but Asami nearly died as a rush ran through her veins. Korra leaned forward, her hands gripping at Asami's biceps, breaking contact between their lips only to meet them again. This one was fuller, Asami's mouth feeling the softness of Korra's. She wanted more. Her hand moved from Korra's cheek to the back of her neck, breaking contact herself this time as she moved to Korra's bottom lip, gently brushing her teeth against it in a small nibble, smiling as she felt Korra's build against her.

Korra ran her hands up, cupping Asami's jaw, tilting it to change angles. Asami gasped when she felt the brush of Korra's tongue behind her upper lip, pulling it in to roll between Korra's.

They remained kissing for a while, until Asami's legs began cramping. She pulled away, giving one last kiss to Korra's brow, and sat back. Korra was beaming like somehow Asami had given her the greatest gift. It made Asami almost want to cry.

Korra tucked her legs against her chest, and Naga, who had fallen asleep, left out a huff of annoyance behind her at the movement. Asami laughed, breathless.

x

Asami had payed for them to have a sleepover, so they made their way back to the South Pole section, and Asami layed out the sleeping bags she had brought. She unzipped them fully, laying one down on the ground and one over them. Korra finished removing Naga's vest, and the dog curled up in the corner of their makeshift bed. Asami pulled Korra down, wrapping her arms around Korra's torso, burying her face into Korra's chest. Korra moved in a silent chuckle, shaking Asami's shoulder until the CEO looked up at her.

Korra ran her hand through Asami's hair once before rubbing her fingers against Asami's scalp. Asami closed her eyes at the feeling, reveling in the fact that Korra had somehow returned her feelings.

"Goodnight, Asami."

Though the words were rough, a jolt ran through Asami and her eyes sprang open. Korra was already curled up and drifting off. Asami stared at her friend's face, her heart pounding, her nerves tingling. Korra rubbed at her one bicep, muttering as she shifted closer.

Asami felt a pressure on her bicep too. Asami's eyes stared unseeing, knowing she had just felt the same thing her friend had. A peace was falling over her, but she knew this also was not hers; it was Korra's.

Korra was Asami's soulmate.

**Author's Note:**

> funfax: my SDiT stole one of my socks while I was writing this
> 
> So yeah did you know in some aquariums you can book sleepovers? Isn't that cool? Anyways sorry if this sucked but it's three thousand words and I had a deadline. I wanted to get this up before Korrasami week was over and only had a few hours free today. Welp.
> 
> If it wasn't too bad, could you please give me some kudos or comments or anything? I'll try to make the next chapter fluffier and filled with more Soulmate stuffs. Thank you for reading!
> 
> You can also find me on my tumblr: http://wolvhen.tumblr.com/


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